No matter you think of Coach Richt
and Georgia Uga is a great mascot!
R.I.P. Uga VII. Much Respect.

As impossible as it seems to do, recovering from those awful uniforms worn versus Boise State will only be part of Georgia's problems this week. In addition to facing Lattimore and company, the dawgs are once again going into this game with their second tier interim mascot, "Russ" instead of "Uga" who passed away last February. It seems unreasonable to ask so much of a program in one short week, but that is what Georgia fans are doing. Not only do the dawgs have to figure out a way to stop Lattimore, block the Gamecocks' stellar defensive front, contain Ellington and Sanders on kick returns, but they also have to do it all with RUSS instead of UGA! I don't know if Coach Richt can survive the fury!

Now For Some Serious Analysis (Sort of...)

Georgia is going to go 10 and 2 (Ok, maybe not 10 and 2 but they will still win a lot!) and lose to two of the best teams in the country. Don't forget, CBS sports played the EA Sports' NCAA Football mock season and it had Boise St. losing to the Gamecocks in the title game. Georgia's schedule is very favorable this season so look for them to rebound quickly and for Coach Richt to win huge in a bowl game versus a Big 22 team. (How many teams are in the Big 10 now?)

Georgia's need to play their true freshman tailback (Crowell) to have their best player on the field will lead to several sacks and pressures. Asking a true freshman back to pick up our defensive linemen won't fair too well for the dawgs. This in turn will lead to turnovers. Look for a big day out of our defensive front. We all know that our d-line is the strongest thing on our team depth wise, and this game will really showcase that.

Historically, the Georgia, South Carolina ball game is a tight race governed by the team that makes one less mistake than the other. It will be different this time, simply because of the caliber of athletes on either side of the ball. I believe the trenches are a complete mismatch in favor of the Gamecocks this week and that will affect all aspects of the game. The Georgia offense will capitalize a few times on screens and draws taking advantage of our pursuit and aggressiveness, but over time this attack will take a toll on their own linemen. (Offensive linemen don't enjoy running down field multiple times on screen plays, just ask any former linemen.)

I picture a third and fourth quarter similar to the swamp last season in which the Gamecocks take control and look like a top five team doing it. South Carolina will be the team that "looks" like the physical, dominant SEC force in this one. The main reason we will "look" like the more physical and dominant team is because we will actually BE the team with the better players!

The best part of this victory for the Gamecocks though will be that Georgia will be wearing their traditional "silver britches." Even though Boise State did come to Atlanta and defeat an SEC opponent, I am sure the players never really felt like they were playing the real Georgia in those hideous outfits.

The post game hype will be about how Georgia is overrated. This will keep the Gamecocks off the radar for a little while longer, which is a good thing. We will probably have a few mistakes that cause the game to not quite be as big a blow-out as it should be, which will actually help us stay humble and keep us away from any front-runner media morons. If we route a Georgia team at home it would cause other teams preparing for us to spend more time and effort on us than we want. Inside the locker-room though each player will know the truth. This is a year in which we will be able to physically dominate programs like Georgia if we play up to our potential!

And as respectable as this win will be for the Gamecocks, we all know it would be MORE respectable if a true "Uga" roamed the sidelines. Maybe "Russ" just isn't up for the long haul of a grueling SEC schedule.

From coach to comedian: Marty Simpson is a former USA Today high school All-American and collegiate Academic All-Conference player for USC who scored the Gamecocks' first 6 points in the SEC. During 8 years as a high school varsity coach, Simpson led his team to the state finals and saw one player advance to set an NFL rookie record. Simpson now divides his time between his family, running a multimedia company named Blue-Eyed Panda and getting the same pre-game jitters by performing stand-up comedy nationwide.

I think the actual outcome will be severe, although not as bad on the score as the game is. The game will be controlled by the Gamecocks, all the way, but the score will only be 17-21 point margin of victory. I realize this is a bold statement to make, but you can all come back here and blast me if I am wrong!

I will stand by my prediction, but I will also admit that I may be a tad optimistic. I will maintain that we are 17 points better than Georgia right now. Whether we play that well on the road will remain to be seen.

You need to get Reed Morton, Collin Mackie, Courtney Leavitt, and Scott Hagler's predictions. Heck, get Lanning's, Succop's and Weaver's while you are it. Actually, only Morton's will matter if you ask him!